Bill Crews

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Bill Crews was the mayor of Melbourne, Iowa from 1984 through 1998. He attracted national attention for being openly gay, having come out of the closet at a march on Washington in 1993.

Formerly a Republican, he claimed "I was a Republican from before the fascists took over. I believe in limited government, but I'm on one side of the Democratic party. I'm pro-choice; I've always been." His father, a United Methodist minister, was killed in a car accident in 1973. Bill Crews was also an active United Methodist after coming out until relocating with his partner to Washington, D.C., in 1998.

Crews had run for the Iowa Senate in 1992 but lost a close race by just 56 votes. After moving to D.C., Crews served two terms as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (SMD 6C07) in the District of Columbia neighborhood of Capitol Hill. On October 3, 2005 he began serving as the Zoning Administrator for the District of Columbia.